The present invention relates to the field of materials management, and more particularly to systems designed for containing, transferring, delivering and dispensing various materials, such as liquid applied sound deadener (LASD). The material management system of the invention is configured to deliver contamination free streams from a vessel that can be emptied and refilled repeatedly, with or without intervening cleaning of the vessel or its components.
Prior known material management systems have encountered difficulty transferring from a containment vessel certain thick, viscous fluids, liquids and other types of materials that may resist pumping and that can be damaging to pumping apparatus. As used herein, a fluid is a substance that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape at a steady rate when acted upon by a force tending to change its shape. Certain materials, while normally not considered to be fluids, also can be made to flow under certain conditions, for example, soft solids and semi-solids. Vast quantities of fluids are used in transportation, manufacturing, farming, mining, and industry. Thick fluids, viscous fluids, semi-solid fluids, visco-elastic products, pastes, gels and other fluid materials that are not easy to dispense from fluid sources (for example, pressure vessels, open containers, supply lines, etc.) comprise a sizable portion of the fluids utilized. These fluids include thick and/or viscous chemicals and other such materials, for example, lubricating greases, adhesives, sealants and mastics. The ability to transport these materials from one place to another, for example, from a container to a manufacturing or processing site, and in a manner that protects the quality of the material, is of vital importance.
Various components of fluid delivery systems are known, but are typically configured with heavy-duty pumps and are not integrated with a material delivery system having process controls and/or a computer interface capability. The contents of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,783,366; 5,373,221; 5,418,040; 5,524,797; 6,253,799; 6,364,218; 6,540,105; 6,602,492; 6,726,773; 6,814,310; 6,840,404; and 6,861,100 are each hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
A refillable material transfer system may be configured to move highly viscous fluids from a vessel to a point of use. Such a material transfer system may be configured to dispense only the required amount of material without waste, which is especially important when chemicals are not easily handled and cannot be manually removed easily or safely from the vessel. Preferably, such a material transfer system would reduce or eliminate costs and expenses attendant to using drums, kegs and pails, as well as the waste of material associated with most existing systems. Because certain chemicals are sensitive to contamination of one form or another, such a material transfer system may be sealed, protect product quality, allow sampling without opening the container to contamination and permit proper attribution of product quality problems to either the supplier or the user. A refillable material transfer system mat further be configured to use low cost components and provide a non-mechanical (no moving parts), non-pulsating solution for dispensing and transferring thick fluids and other such materials.
There is a need for, and what was heretofore unavailable, an intelligent material transfer system having a plurality of sensors and transmitters associated with one or more material vessels. There is a need for such a refillable material transfer system that may be connected to a plurality of local control systems and integrated with a central computer control system that are enclosed within an environmentally controlled housing or cabinet. There is also a need for, and what was heretofore unavailable, an automated material transfer system configured to interface with a metering device system and/or a robotic material dispenser system. There is also a need for a an automated material transfer and dispensing system that interfaces with a material applicator and may include a pump. The refillable material transfer system may have a removable lid or be a closed system with access ports for observing and cleaning the vessel. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.